Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 05/03/2011 - 09:30
Posted in
We just closed on our new house in Massachusetts. We are happy with how things went but were wondering about an increase in the closing attorney's fees that were charged to us. It's not a big deal but we had initially been told in our Good Faith Estimate that the attorney's fees would be one amount and ended up paying approximately 7% more than that. I wouldn't even know how to estimate if the services provided by the attorney justify the amount charged but was wondering if MA law allows changes in the closing attorney's fees like this? Thank you for any information.
Fees for real estate closing in MA
Under some relatively new RESPA rules, the amount by which a closing attorney can alter her fees from the amount specified in the Good Faith Estimate to the amount actually charged and listed in the HUD-1 depends on how the borrower chose the attorney. If you selected the attorney from a list of recommended attorneys provided by the lender, then the fees cannot increase by more than 10% from the amount shown in the GFE. So, in your case, the change is within the amount allowed by law. However, if the borrower selected, for example, a real estate attorney they are familiar with, without any reference to the lender's list or other recommendation, than the fees can go up by any amount, as long as the fees are actually justified by the work performed. This same general rule applies to amounts charged for title insurance.
In fact, if you look at page three of your GFE, you will see a listing of various service providers with an explanation of how much their fees can change. Hope that helps.